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Good Deal On Polyester Webbing.

I was going to order some polyester webbing from the web when it hit me that most tie down straps are made from polyester. This prompted me to head to my local Harbor Freight Tools.

They had a set of 2 x 15' 1 inch wide polyester ratchet straps for 7.99. That's 30' (2x15' peices) of 1" polyester webbing with a 1500 lb breaking strength for .26 per foot. The also had a 12' lockable tie down for 2.99 or .25 per foot. The set also came with 2 x 6' locking tie downs but 6' is not long enough to use for suspension straps but they would probably make a great set of tree huggers. All for 7.99. On sale.

The poly webbing is much more pliable and seems a little lighter than the Speer polypro that I am using now. I will weigh both straps and confirm the weight difference. They also have a higher breaking strength at 1500' lbs as opposed the the 700 lbs for the polypro. Polyester webbing is supposed to be more abrasion resistant than polypro. Yeah I know it's yellow but that nothing a bottle of RIT dye won't fix.

The straps are a lot cheaper on the website. You can get the 12' tie downs for 1.99 which is .16 per foot and you can also buy the 15' ratchting tie downs for 2.99 each (.20 per foot).

Here is a pic of the 15' piece I got:
It's also great because if you don't own a sewing machine you can just cut the metal hook off the ends of these straps and have a loop already sewn on the end of the webbing.

I am going to check Big Lots and Walmart for cheap straps also. I would also say that flea markets would be a good place to look.

* 100% cotton, linen, silk, wool, ramie
* Synthetics such as rayon, nylon and acetate
* Fiber blends with at least 60% cotton or other dyeable fiber (Blends will tint evenly but will not achieve full color)

...but there are fabrics that will not accept dye such as...

* Fabrics with 50% or more polyester content
* 100% acrylic, fiberglass, or metallic fibers
* Fabrics with rubber backing (bath mats or throw rugs)
* Fabrics with special finishes such as water repellents
* Fabrics with bleach damage or extensive staining
* Fabrics washable only in cold water or labeled "dry clean only"

If you use Snakeskins, it might not really matter about the yellow color.

Do you have the weights? I think that is a good deal, just wondering if it would beat the Speer webbing in weight.

If anything else this is good to know in case you are out hiking and need to replace your webbing. I think that I have a good chance of coming across one of these tie downs in a town vs some webbing that I would have to get from an outfitter at a higher price and probibly more weight.

Good find and idea.

Is that too much to ask? Girls with frikkin' lasers on their heads?
The hanger formly known as "hammock engineer".

The 333 is the working load of the strap including the buckle. That means the buckle won't hold past that weight. I got the breaking strength from the box:
The 6' locking straps (1200 lb breaking strength) are a looser weave webbing as compared to the weave on the webbing in the ratch straps

Hack saw, cutting wheel, bolt cutters, or something similar. The webbing comes right out of the ratcheting portion. No cutting needed. You would have to cut off the hook shown in the first pic. I just cut the webbing and I will go back and sew in loops later.

The 12' tie downs say they have a working capacity of 333lbs.
How does the 1500lb breaking strength figure into this?

According to the Cordage Institute's Fiber Robe Technical Information and Application Manual Working Load is between 1/5 and 1/12 of a line's minimum breaking strength, depending on safety factors. In practice, I've rarely seen a working load that was less than 1/5. "Minimum Breaking Strength" is itself defined as being 2 standard deviations below the average tested breaking strength. I leave it to the engineers here to do whatever engineers do with this kind of information.

NOTE: Webbing is obviously different from "Fiber Rope" and the Cordage Institute is not a trade association for webbing manufacturers. Standards for webbing are set by the Web Sling and Tie Down Association. The standards for webbing (WSTDA-T-4) were revised last year. I haven't actually seen the new standards.